1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic equipment provided with an antenna module for exchanging information wirelessly, and in particular, to electronic equipment in which degradation of antenna properties caused by a connection cable of the antenna module is suppressed.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, the improvement of the environment for connecting to the Internet wirelessly, such as an increase in public radio local-area network (LAN) spots, is being carried out, and electronic equipment for exchanging information wirelessly is spreading, having an antenna module incorporating an antenna and an antenna peripheral circuit thereof. Examples of such electronic equipment include notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mini-notebook computers whose main purpose is outdoor Internet connection, mobile telephones, and mobile game machines.
In conventional notebook computers, a built-in antenna needs to have a predetermined size, and therefore, an antenna module containing an antenna and a peripheral circuit thereof is placed on a main section side of a notebook computer, i.e., in a housing in which a keyboard, a CPU, etc. are placed (see JP2002-207535A).
In recent years, an antenna module is being miniaturized, which increases the options for its placement, and therefore, an antenna module is coming to be placed in an end portion on a side different from a hinge portion side where a hinge mechanism connecting a main section of a notebook computer to a cover section is provided, in a housing containing a liquid crystal panel to be the cover section with respect to the main section. The end portion on the side different from the hinge portion side is positioned in an upper part of the liquid crystal panel during use of the notebook computer. Therefore, the end portion on the side different from the hinge portion side is unlikely to be influenced by other electronic circuits in the main section since it is positioned far away therefrom. The end portion on the side different from the hinge portion side also is placed physically at the highest position in the notebook computer that is being used. Accordingly, the end portion on the side different from the hinge portion side is suitable for placing an antenna module (see JP 2008-061057A).
As described above, if an antenna module is placed in a housing constituting a cover section of a notebook computer with a liquid crystal panel mounted thereon, it is required to connect the antenna module to an electric circuit for transmitting/receiving a radio signal contained in a main section via a hinge portion in which a hinge mechanism for connecting the housing constituting the cover section to the main section is placed. In this case, it is necessary to place a connection cable from the antenna module placed in the end portion on a side different from a hinge portion side to an end portion on a side where the hinge portion adjacent to the main section is provided, that is, from one end of the housing constituting the cover section to the other end thereof.
Conventionally, in order to lock the connection cable from the antenna module placed in one end portion of the housing constituting the cover section to the hinge portion placed in the other end portion, a method for attaching the connection cable to a side surface or a back surface of a liquid crystal panel module with a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, a method for hooking the connection cable on a hook-shaped adhesive member formed on the housing, etc. have been used.
However, according to the conventional method for attaching a connection cable, only discrete parts of the connection cable in the longitudinal direction thereof are attached. Therefore, if the cover section is rotated with respect to the main section at a start time of using a notebook computer and an end time thereof, or the notebook computer is subjected to impact from the outside, the connection cable may be twisted or vibrated so that its arrangement position moves. The shift of the arrangement position of the connection cable in the housing influences the transmission/reception state of an antenna to cause noise with respect to a signal to be transmitted/received, which degrades the antenna properties.